BBC Radio 4 x Royal Court Theatre Major Collaboration

A new radio production of Lucy Kirkwood's The Children and a season of landmark Royal Court plays from the BBC archive, curated by Mark Ravenhill, will be broadcast to audiences across the UK from 26th September

BBC Radio 4 and the Royal Court Theatre, which this year marks its 70th anniversary, have confirmed details of a collaboration that will bring acclaimed contemporary drama from the Royal Court's rich history and the BBC archive to audiences nationwide.

At the heart of the collaboration is a new radio production of Lucy Kirkwood's award-winning playThe Children, which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 2016 before transferring internationally, including to Broadway. The production will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday 26th September at 3.00 - 4.30 pm.

The play follows retired nuclear physicists Hazel (Anastasia Hille) and Robin (Stanley Holloway), who wonder why their former colleague Rose (Emma Fielding) has turned up at their house near the damaged power station where they used to work. Over the course of the play, old alliances and divisions are exposed and it becomes clear that Rose has a challenging proposition for her old friends, as the play explores personal and professional responsibility within the context of a global crisis.

Playwright Mark Ravenhill has curated a selection of radio adaptations of Royal Court plays drawn from seven decades of BBC archives. The collection will celebrate the theatre's enduring influence on British playwriting and showcase some of the most significant voices to have emerged from the Court since its founding, as well as star-studded casts including Ben Whishaw, David Bradley, David Troughton, Siobhan Finneran, Sheila Hancock, Nikki Amuka Bird, Elliot Levey, the late Helen McCrory and Brigit Forsyth. Following the broadcast of The Children, the archive productions will air on BBC Radio 4 Extra at 8.30pm each evening and will also be available on BBC Sounds in the Spotlight feed for 28 days after broadcast. 

This collaboration reflects a shared commitment between the Royal Court and the BBC to making groundbreaking drama accessible to audiences throughout the UK, while celebrating the extraordinary legacy of writers whose work has shaped contemporary theatre.

Alison Hindell, Commissioner for Radio 4 Drama and Fiction, said: ‘These productions showcase the breadth, ambition and enduring relevance of great playwriting. As the biggest commissioner of audio drama in the world, the BBC is proud to bring these remarkable stories to a wider audience, so that everyone can access brilliant contemporary theatre through the visionary lens of the Royal Court.’

Royal Court Theatre Executive Director Will Young said: 'It's an absolute gift for the Royal Court to have this collaboration with Radio 4 during our 70th Anniversary. Opening up their archival treasure trove of seven decades of pioneering playwrights from our stages, and making that freely available to listeners - with Mark Ravenhill as our national guide through contemporary British theatre - is thrilling. Look Back In Anger, Sizwe Banzi Is Dead, Cuttin' It, Random, Roots, Our Country’s Good, Top Girls, plus a radio premiere for The Children - what a feast, and what a reminder of the value of a public service broadcaster.'

Mark Ravenhill said: ‘I've got a particular bond with the Royal Court Theatre, as they discovered and produced my first play, so it's been fascinating to work through the archive of BBC radio productions of Royal Court plays and to select seven of them for Radio 4 Extra. It's a chance for listeners to share the journey that Royal Court new plays have made in the last seventy years, to hear the swaggering male voice of John Osborne's Look Back in Anger - the Court's first big hit - and then trace the emergence of powerful Black and female voices in more recent years. Radio brings a fresh intimacy to a series of plays that have become contemporary theatre classics and provides a great introduction to plays that the listener may never have encountered.'

Programme information

The Children by Lucy Kirkwood
Saturday 26th September, 3 – 4.30pm, BBC Radio 4

A new audio production of Lucy Kirkwood's gripping drama, first produced at The Royal Court Theatre.

Retired nuclear physicists Hazel and Robin wonder why their former colleague Rose has turned up at their house near the damaged power station where they used to work. Over the course of the play, old alliances and divisions are exposed and it becomes clear that Rose has a challenging proposition for her old friends.

Kirkwood delivers her analysis of a global crisis through recognisable characters in an ordinary domestic context. Beautifully observed and unfolding in real time, her impressive drama is both an entertaining picture of the relationship between three people and an exploration of personal and professional responsibility.

BBC Radio 4 commissioned this production of The Children from Hooley Productions as part of the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre.

Look Back in Anger by John Osborne
Saturday 26th September, 20:30 – 22:00, Radio 4 Extra

When John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger was first staged in May 1956, the central character, Jimmy Porter, the original incarnation of the angry young man, both shocked and charmed his audience. Singled out as the "best young play of its decade” by critic Kenneth Tynan, seventy years later it still stands as a major turning point in British theatre. The play is set in the Midlands in the mid-1950s and charts the cruel but passionate relationship between Jimmy and his young wife Alison.

Roots by Arnold Wesker
Sunday 27th September, 20:30 – 22:00, Radio 4 Extra

Arnold Wesker's 1959 semi-autobiographical masterpiece, the central play of his Trilogy, Roots tells the story of Beatie Bryant, a young woman returning from London to her native village. 

Her eyes have been opened to a wider world by her intellectual Jewish boyfriend, Ronnie, and she gathers together the whole family to welcome him to her home.

A Radio Drama Birmingham production for BBC Radio 4. First broadcast in 2006.

Sizwe Banzi is Dead by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona
Monday 28th September, 20:30 – 22:00

A devised play by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona.

This stark, funny and moving play is set in 1970s South Africa at the height of apartheid.

When a man arrives in a photographic studio to have his picture taken for his passbook, the characters discover what it means to lose such a document in a country where your passbook is your identity. The chilling reasons of how and why the man needed a new photograph are revealed. A thought-provoking, captivating drama about oppression, racism and identity. Recorded in front of an audience at Patrick Studio, Birmingham Hippodrome as part of the Contains Strong Language spoken word festival. With a specially recorded introduction by Athol Fugard in South Africa.

A Radio Drama Manchester production for BBC Radio 3. Originally broadcast in 2022.

Top Girls by Caryl Churchill
Tuesday 29th September, 20:30 – 22:00, Radio 4 Extra

Marlene celebrates her promotion to managing director of the Top Girls Employment Agency with a dinner. Her guests are five women from history, art and literature. But what price has Marlene paid for her success? This play by Caryl Churchill - first staged in 1982 at the Royal Court - examines the political costs of women rising to the top.

A Radio Drama Manchester production for BBC Radio 4.  Originally broadcast in 2006.

Our Country's Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Wednesday 30th September, 20:30 – 22:00, Radio 4 Extra

Australia 1789: a young lieutenant attempts to direct a cast of convicts in 'The Recruiting Officer', the first play ever to be staged in the country. But one of his cast may be about to be hanged.  A powerful metaphor for the transcendent impact of theatre.

A Radio Drama London production for BBC Radio 4. Originally broadcast in 2011.

Random by debbie tucker green
Thursday 1st October, 20:30 – 21:30, Radio 4 Extra

debbie tucker green's stage play, first produced at the Royal Court Theatre. Nadine Marshall plays four characters in a family whose ordinary day is shattered by unforeseen disaster. Cast also includes Petra Letang, Richie Campbell, Manjeet Mann, Jill Cardo, Inam Mirza and Gunnar Cauthery.

 A Radio Drama London production for BBC Radio 3. First broadcast 2010.

Cuttin' It by Charlene James
Friday 2nd October, 21:30 – 21:15, Radio 4 Extra

Charlene James' multi award-winning drama set in South London.

Winner of 'Best Single Drama' in the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2016, winner of the Alfred Fagon Award for 'Best Play' and the George Devine Award for 'Most Promising Playwright' in 2015.

Two Somali teenagers, Muna and Iqra, go to the same school. They are from the same place but they are strangers, strangers who share a secret embedded in their culture.

A Radio Drama London production for BBC Radio 4. Originally broadcast in 2015.